Work Text:
Jiang Cheng still does not know how he attained immortality.
He simply remembers that everyone grew old and died, but he continued to stand. He continued to live in solitude as he watched everyone's life come to an end.
It was unbearable sometimes, living with no purpose and no certainty of what the future would hold.
Sometimes, he encounters the reincarnation of his loved ones. In some lives, they remember, in others, they do not. Everything is fickle and unpredictable.
Jiang Cheng doesn't feel bad about it, it is better, he thinks, for them to live without the shadows of the past and to be free. Even he himself shed his titles and courtesy name along the way. Besides, he's gained a couple of friends in the process.
"Hey."
Mu Qing nudges Liu Qingge, who has frozen on the road.
Jiang Cheng recalls how he met them in quite some detail.
The two of them were fighting in a clearing in the middle of the forest, with a zhanmadao and a sword. Jiang Cheng knew immediately that they were two immortals just like him.
Mu Qing was a Martial God, apparently.
Liu Qingge attained immortality after a rebirth.
The three of them became the only constants in each other's lives.
They began to wander together after that. Simply passing on their immortality. Forming a bond of friendship that only continued to strengthen over time.
And now, after watching the ages pass and time flow, they can even consider themselves sworn brothers. But probably only Liu Qingge is able to admit it.
Both Jiang Cheng and Mu Qing look in the direction of Liu Qingge's gaze.
A boy is passing by on the sidewalk, the boy is carrying a canvas under his arm.
"... Shen Qingqiu."
Oh.
Liu Qingge's famous "rival" had finally reincarnated.
Jiang Cheng hears Mu Qing whisper near his ear, "I told you he was in love, look at him."
Yes, he has to admit that. Liu Qingge is literally falling in love at first sight, again, with this handsome guy.
How silly.
"Hmm? Jiang Wanyin?"
Jiang Cheng jumps at the name he left a long time ago, turns around, and meets Nie Mingjue.
For some reason, Nie Mingjue seems to run out of air when he faces him. Mu Qing snorts at his side.
"Doesn't he look good with makeup?"
Ah, that's why. He just likes eyeliner and some color on his lips.
"Ah! Mu Qing! You!"
Today was not his lucky day, there is a guy, whom Jiang Cheng has already seen several times and so he knows that he is Martial God Nan Yang and Mu Qing's friend, Feng Xin.
"Hmm, we should run." He offers because he is still not ready enough to chat with a Nie Mingjue dressed in modern clothes.
"Let's do that." Mu Qing agrees and grabs the frozen Liu Qingge before taking off running.
Jiang Cheng looks at Nie Mingjue and says, "I'm just Jiang Cheng now, da-ge."
He then runs with Mu Qing toward their residence.
"Remind me why we have such a big house," He snaps as they arrive at the villa.
"Liu Qingge is a spoiled brat who wanted space to train. And we have money."
Speaking of Liu Qingge, the guy had finally come to his senses.
"I saw Shen Qingqiu. I must go back."
Mu Qing rolls his eyes.
"Hey, the guy looks like he's 16 or something, he's still too young for that."
"It's not that! And I think he's 17, he was always skinny."
"That's not the point."
Jiang Cheng ignores them and goes to the kitchen. He needs to cook something to forget that he just met Nie Mingjue, and he seems to remember. It was bad enough having to take care of the saber spirits still. Even though Mu Qing helped suppress them.
Shouldn't they find them again soon, or should they?
They found them very quickly.
Jiang Cheng was coming out of a coffee shop with Mu Qing and Liu Qingge when they ran into Nie Mingjue, who was on his way from the gym.
It was bad enough to see him training in robes, the modern clothes really did a good job on Nie Mingjue.
Mu Qing vanished into thin air and Liu Qingge left after finding a publication related to his boy.
"Jiang Cheng."
"Hello, Nie Mingjue."
Somehow, he ended up walking with Nie Mingjue aimlessly.
It seems that Nie Mingjue only remembered the moment he saw him, why, Jiang Cheng didn't want to know.
"What do you do now?" Nie Mingjue asks.
Jiang Cheng shrugs, "Right now, I work in modeling. Immortality has its advantages."
They always look for different jobs after a while so as not to arouse suspicion, they had not wanted to model because they would be known, but finally decided to because they did not want to stay at home.
Some Idol companies had contacted them to offer contracts, but that was still under discussion. They were not fans of singing and dancing.
"Immortality? Aren't you reincarnated?"
Nie Mingjue sounds strange, but Jiang Cheng concentrates on the question.
"I'm not. I've lived many years as an immortal, do I look younger now?"
His face looked younger, especially now that he left his hair in a high ponytail. He didn't want to cut his hair, so it was still quite long by modern standards.
"You look good," Nie Mingjue nods as he gives him one more look.
He learns that Nie Huaisang is at an art exhibition at his academy and Nie Mingjue takes him to see him.
"Oh."
Jiang Cheng takes out his phone and takes a quick picture, then sends it to Liu Qingge.
Jiang Cheng: [Your boy is here.]
After Jiang Cheng together with Nie Mingjue take a walk around the art exhibition, Liu Qingge and Mu Qing arrive at the place.
"Where?"
With a shake of his head, he points towards one of the corridors, where Shen Qingqiu and Nie Huaisang admire the latter's painting; which is a painting eerily resembling the Unclean Realm.
The boy wears his hair shoulder-length, with a pair of rimless glasses over his nose, he wears light greens and white; there is a pair of earrings dangling from his ears. In short, he is charming.
Nie Huaisang is the one who notices them first, more specifically, he notices Nie Mingjue.
"Da-ge."
As Nie Mingjue leads them towards his younger brother, Jiang Cheng grabs his arm and leans in to ask, "Does he know?"
The arm in his grip tenses, he can feel the muscles contracting and his fingers flex curiously.
"He doesn't know, I think."
Nie Mingjue's voice is hoarse, but Jiang Cheng pays no attention to it. Certainly, even if Nie Huaisang had his memories, they wouldn't know unless he admitted it directly.
Jiang Cheng let go of Nie Mingjue's arm, although it was obvious that Nie Huaisang was already getting ideas in his head, as he could see the thoughtful look he gave him.
"Ahem," Nie Mingjue coughed, "didi, these are Jiang Cheng, Liu Qingge, and Mu Qing."
"Oh, nice to meet you, I'm Nie Huaisang, and this is Shen Jiu."
Alas, this day was very strange. Jiang Cheng took Liu Qingge and Mu Qing after a while. Silly Liu didn't even try to converse with his boy and just stood like a statue, even Mu Qing managed to chat with him a little.
Brute.
The following week, Jiang Cheng receives a funny message.
Unknown number: [Hi, this is Nie Huaisang, da-ge said you guys were entering the modeling world, may I ask if you guys would take a small job to model for me and my friend so we can paint you?]
Jiang Cheng: [Sure, we have time.]
And I wouldn't really charge them either.
Nie Huaisang: [Great! Tomorrow afternoon would be perfect! I'll send you the location!]
Jiang Cheng: [Perfect, we'll be there.]
After sensing that something was wrong, he grabbed his phone again and asked:
Jiang Cheng: [What kind of art?]
The answer comes without delay.
Nie Huaisang: [Hehe, Erotic Art!]
"... Shit!"
Mu Qing goes to hit him.
The next day, the three immortals stood in front of Nie Huaisang.
"From now on I tell you, I just come to see," Mu Qing said when he saw Nie Huaisang taking out a suspicious box.
"Okay, but help me choose here."
Looking at Mu Qing and Nie Huaisang going through the things in the box, Jiang Cheng sighed and asked Shen Jiu, "Do you always look for random people to paint them naked?"
Shen Jiu blushed and frowned to hide it, cute: "No, this is the first time we will do something like this."
Liu Qingge coughed a little to get attention.
"Your paintings are very good, I saw one at the exhibition the other day. You are very talented."
For someone who had frozen at the sight of Shen Jiu when they walked in, Liu Qingge did quite well.
"...Thank you."
"Do you guys mind seeing a lot of each other's skin?"
Nie Huaisang asked out of the blue. Liu Qingge and Jiang Cheng denied it. They had already bathed together in hot springs they encountered when they traveled. Mu Qing and he had also had to pull Liu Qingge out of the water once because the guy had gone too long without sleep and couldn't stand the heat.
Jiang Cheng grabbed the thing he was given and went to the bathroom to change. The thing was like an underrobe, but it had no place to secure it to his body, so he could only get out by holding the lapels.
"I knew you were perfect for the job! Come, lie down here!"
In the end, he ended up lying on several pillows, he avoided moving much, as he could feel that the cloth covering him would show everything if he did. But he had to relax when Huaisang asked.
Liu Qingge had it easier. Apparently, Shen Jiu didn't want to draw someone naked, so they left the guy in his underwear, sitting on a bench while sending a seductive look or something to his painter.
After a while, he found a comfortable position and managed to stay still until Huaisang finished, which was a few hours later. Shen Jiu had finished considerably faster, how fortunate.
When the painting was ready, Huaisang showed it to him. Jiang Cheng grabbed the lapels of the clothes when he saw there were some of his scars captured in the paint. Fortunately, the one with the whip was not visible.
All in all, everything went well.
Nie Huaisang ordered pizza for everyone and they sat down to eat in the living room.
When Nie Mingjue arrived, the three visitors had already left without his knowledge that they had ever arrived. He looked at his didi and the child Huaisang had decided to 'adopt' when he found out he was still at the orphanage. It was a waste of talent, he had said because he met the boy painting in a park.
"Da-ge, I left you a present in your room."
How strange.
Nie Mingjue entered his room cautiously, turned on the lights, and took a step forward, then another, then froze.
Was Wanyin's waist always so small?
A blush made its way from his neck to his hairline, practically smoking, he shouted, "Nie Huaisang!"
"Is he angry?" Shen Jiu asked as he hugged his stuffed puppy toy on the couch.
Nie Huaisang shook his head, "He's excited."
Shen Jiu wrinkled his nose in disgust, "I didn't want to know that."
"What about your painting, will you present it to Laoshi?"
"No, it's mine," he replied burying his face in the stuffed toy.
Nie Huaisang smiled - his brothers had already found love!
Meanwhile, in a house on the outskirts of the city.
"Dianxia! I swear he was him! He was Mu Qing!"
"Feng Xin, hmm," Xie Lian scratched his cheek, "I already knew, I met Mu Qing and his friends too. They are entering the modeling world now, so be careful of being photographed following Mu Qing."
"...modeling?"
"Yes, look."
Feng Xin looked at the photographs of Mu Qing wearing a clothing line of a well-known brand and then grimaced.
Many years ago, they made their feelings clear and they were, they are a couple. But Mu Qing kept running away from him!
"You still don't get it?" Hua Cheng asked, sneering. "Mu Qing never changed."
The truth didn't understand.
"I think what San Lang means is that Mu Qing still wants to make more friends."
Ah, so that was it...
But, Feng Xin pursed his lips.
He didn't think that was the reason.